Dominant first half defense leads Justin-Siena past Sonoma Valley and to VVAL tournament title
By Kyle Foster
Follow on Twitter/X: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
When two good teams meet, one huge run can make a huge difference.
On Saturday night at Napa High’s Messner Gym, this is what the No. 1 seed Justin-Siena girls’ basketball team did when they beat No. 3 seed Sonoma Valley, 38-30, in the championship game of the Vine Valley Athletic League tournament.
The Braves (23-5) were able to jump out to a massive lead in the first half with a run that lasted a quarter and a half. That run was a 16-0 one that went till there was 3:22 left in the first half.
“It’s funny, we’re the two best teams in the league and every game we’ve played against each other this season has featured a scoreless quarter by one of the two, and today, I guess it was their turn,” Justin-Siena head coach Andy Bettencourt pointed out. “I thought our defense was really good. But I also knew that they were going to start making plays. They’re too good.”
Throughout the run, they were playing lockdown defense and holding Sonoma Valley to one shot each time down the floor. All of this led them to a 21-4 lead going into the break.
However, it also helped that Jordan Washington had another great game. The junior center finished with a game-high of 19 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double. She had a great first half scoring 12 points and making 3 of 4 free throws in the game.
“Over practice, we’ve been working on keeping me from the outside because I found that I’m pretty good at driving,” Washington explained. “Last time we played Sonoma, I was in the post and they would collapse in on me and take the ball. But now that I was like, outside the three-point line, I could have a wide open lane, and just made it so much easier for me to score and they couldn’t like triple to me or double to me, then.”
This was also a vastly different performance from the January 30th game against the Dragons where she had a hard time scoring. Washington was able to be more effective by being out on the perimeter and driving to the bucket. Washington was also the Braves’ lone scorer in double digits for the game.
“One thing we did was we moved her outside,” Bettencourt added. “They were triple-teaming her as well they should have and so we thought maybe we could get her on the perimeter and get her dribbling and shooting. But again, Jordan and Dylan were the first few people in the gym today 45 minutes before our walkthrough started. So all credit goes to Jordan. She came out with a look in her eyes and you can tell early on that she was not to be denied.”
After Washington, the Braves got a good game from Naveena Jackson. While she scored just 8 points, she was able to bring down 11 rebounds and block 2 shots. She scored 6 points in the second half and made both free throws in the game.
Others scoring for Justin-Siena in the game were Madyson Carson (6 points, 2 rebounds), Lauren Keller (5 points, 4 rebounds), and Sophia Dominici (2 points, 1 rebound).
While the game appeared to be put away in the first half, the Dragons (21-8) were dominant in the second half as they clawed their way back into the game.
After all, they were able to widdle the lead down to 7 after outscoring Justin-Siena 19-9 in the third and 29-17 in the second half.
“They’re such a well-coached team and they have a bunch of seniors and we knew they were going to play despite in the second half,” Bettencourt said of the second-half comeback by the Dragons. “And right now, we still need to be better about playing a little more poised. In those moments, we started play a little less fundamental, I would say, and that really started to hurt us.”
Sonoma Valley also forced a bunch of turnovers and took control in the second due to their press.
It also helped that they figured out the puzzle to beat the defense in the second half as well. They could do this by getting Siena Hoban to drive the lane and kick out to a wide-open Presley Sorensen who was kicking down shots from the three-point line.
Sorensen finished as the leading scorer for Sonoma Valley in the game with a team-high 11 points. The senior guard scored all points in the second half and 10 points in the third quarter. She also made a pair of threes.
Others scoring for the Dragons in the game were Trinity Wilkens (7 points), Kelsey Bauer (6 points), Hoban (3 points), and Destiny Tapia (2 points).
With the win, Justin-Siena locks up the regular season and league tournament titles. It also gives them the season series over Sonoma Valley.
Both teams will be in next week’s CIF North Coast Section playoffs. The Braves should have a very strong case for the No. 3 seed in division 4. After all, they lost to University-San Francisco on December 2nd and St. Patrick-St. Vincent during their Christmas Classic on December 21st. But they beat Arcata on December 9th in the championship game of the Redwood Empire Invitational Tournament.
“I think that we should be the three seed because we beat Arcata and head-to-head is one of the main criteria,” Bettencourt said of the seeding. “We also have a better record than them. So I know MaxPreps ratings carry some weight but there I’ve been on seating committees not for basketball. You’re not really looking at MaxPreps. You’re gonna look at head to head and we beat Arcata.”
The brackets will be announced sometime on Sunday and can be viewed here. The Braves should begin the playoffs on Wednesday night at home as well.
